Mumbai flights may face delays as main runway closes for repair

The main runway will be shut from Monday to Saturday from 9.30 am to 5.30 pm from November 1 to March 28

The main runway at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport will be closed for repairs for six days a week between November and March. Even as the secondary runway will remain operational, this might lead to delays across the network.

According to information bulletin released by the Airport Authority of India (AAI) on Friday, the main runway at the second-busiest airport in the country will be re-carpeted to address the stressed portion. The main runway will be shut from Monday to Saturday between 9.30 am and 5.30 pm from November 1 to March 28. It will be open on Sundays and a few other public holidays.

A similar repair of the runway was carried out nine years ago.

The Mumbai airport sees around 950 flights daily and its main runway has the capacity to handle 46 flights per hour. But it often handles more planes than that. The secondary runway, however, can handle only 36 flights.

Vistara said there will be no major impact on its operations. “We are currently working with MIAL (Mumbai International Airport) on finalising an effective flight schedule for minimising the impact of runway closure on passengers. The airline currently operates 96 flights daily to/from Mumbai. We may have to cancel couple of flights owing to the runway closure,” a GoAir spokesperson said.

"There could be a reduction in capacity due to the closure of main runway and this could lead to higher fares in peak season," said Sharat Dhall, chief operating officer (B2C) of Yatra.com.

The re-carpeting work will be carried out using conventional method of 'hot mix overlaying' which includes milling of the top surface and overlaying it with bituminous materials in two layers.